Studio Brief

Social Engagement in Architecture
Instructor: Kerrie Butts

A Call for Design Activism: The generalized passivity of everyday life “weighs more heavily on women who are sentenced to everyday life, on the working class, on employees who are not technocrats, on youth” (Lefebvre, The Everyday and Everydayness). Those on the margins of the social power structure as well as the physical margins are the most affected by the circumstances dictating the conditions of daily life. Architecture has seen an increased public discourse and professional commitment to the impact that creative and innovate design solutions can have in improving the daily lives of others in need.

Social Issues:
Gender and Space
Sexuality and/or Sex Industry
Human Rights and Minority Groups

Methodology: To avoid naïve solutions and generate meaningful architectural knowledge, students will engage in rigorous research about social issues relevant within contemporary Thailand or Southeast Asia. Students will develop more personal/distinctive approaches to the topic in question and may work individually or small groups (to be determined) in the class. Students may continue to work in their groups throughout the entire semester or develop individual design proposals after the midterm. Having identified the issue, each student(s) shall be able to formulate a clear and specific intention (or thesis statement) for the architectural design. For the architectural design proposal, students will select both the program and the site.

Requirements:
-Regularly scheduled contributions and discussions on the studio blog
-Research paper; ten-page minimum including supporting diagrams, maps, and drawings
-Midterm presentation of research, site selection and program development
-Architectural scale design proposal (minimum: must contain a bathroom, maximum 5,000 sq meters of enclosed space)

1. Course Number 2541312
2. Course Credits 6
3. Course Title Architectural Design V (ARCH DSGN V)
4. Department Architecture (International Program)
Faculty Architecture
5. Semester Second
6. Academic Year 2011
7. Instructor Ajarn Kerrie Butts (kerriebutts@gmail.com)
8. Condition
8.1 Prerequisite 25411411 Architectural Design IV (ARCH DSGN IV)
9. Course Status Studio
10. Curriculum Bachelor of Science in Architectural Design
11. Degree Undergraduate Student
12. Number of class hour / week (2 x 3.5 hours) Tuesday/Friday 13:00-16:30
13. Course Description
Innovation and integration of architectural design; interdisciplinary coordination; selection of problems and topics of the students’ and instructor’s interest; capability to carry out research and advanced application of knowledge.
14. Course Outline

14.1. Practical Objectives: Upon completion of this course, each student shall be able
-to conduct thorough and comprehensive research
-to analyze/question/challenge conventional architectural programs
-to establish specific intention(s) for the project
-to derive at clear conceptual framework(s)
-to undergo a rigorous/critical design process
-to produce a complete set of final representations for his/her project according to the studio’s topic of investigation (theme of the studio); for the final presentation, each student shall be required to produce architectural plan, section, and elevation drawings at 1:200 (or at larger scales) + architectural model(s).

14.2. Learning Content 
Social Engagement in Architecture
This studio requires students to take a proactive role in pursuing and defining their own interests and
topics of investigation. Students will research contemporary social issues and reframe a problem within the Southeast Asian regional context related to changing patterns in the human environment in global and local scales. Students will present a thesis paper detailing their research. Finally, students will propose an architectural scale design intervention to address the problem. Social issues address may include one of the following:

Gender: Definition
“Gender” refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given
society considers appropriate for men and women.
“Sex” refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women.
Potential Issues:
Home and Housing, Gender-based/domestic violence, Transgender: blurring traditional roles, Health issues, Safety and Public Space, Media and Advertising, Consumption/Shopping

Sexuality: Definition
Human sexuality is how people experience the erotic and express themselves as sexual beings;
the awareness of themselves as males or females; the capacity they have for erotic experiences
and responses. The sociocultural aspect examines influences on and from social norms, including
the effects of politics and the mass media.
Potential Issues:
Sex Industry (male or female), Education/ Medical Services, Gay Space, Sex Tourism: eastern and western views, Sex in Advertising and Media

Minority: Definition
A minority is a sociological group that does not make up a politically dominant voting majority of the total population of a given society. A sociological minority is not necessarily a numerical minority — it may include any group that is subnormal with respect to a dominant group in terms of social status, education, employment, wealth and political power.
Potential Issues: Narrow interests to a plausible topic
Racial or ethnic, Political, Age (youth, teens, elderly), Disabled (handicapped, blind, etc), Religious (non-Buddhist, Christian, Muslim,etc)

Program Examples: Social change and the blurring of gender roles justify the investigation of the changing image of home and of the family ideal. Education can function as a means of empowerment and creating self-identity. Medical services or other shared resources can make a meaningful impact within a community.

14.3. Class activities / Method The studio is an important place to your design/architectural education. It promotes a culture of sharing ideas, skills, viewpoints and experiences. As an anomaly within the university environment, design studio is known for its intense focus on learning by doing as a collective of individuals. See attached studio manual for rules and class policies.

14.4. Communication Tools
General requirements for assignments are as follow:
a. drawings: hand drawn sketches, plans, sections, and elevations
b. physical models: existing site precise description / working models / presentation models
c. Computer drawings and digital models

14.5 Evaluation/Grading Breakdown
Blog Posts 15%
Research Report 15%
Midterm Presentation 25%
Final Presentation 30%
Portfolio/CD Submission 5%
Attendance 10 %

15. Bibliography / Reading list
Reference Books available:
Expanding Architecture: Design as Activism edit by Bryan Bell and Katie Wakeford (TCDC)
Design Like You Give a Damn. Edited by Architecture for Humanity (TCDC)
The Craft of Research. By Waye Booth, Gregory Colomb and Joseph Williams.
Architecture of the Everyday. Edited by Steven Harris and Deborah Berke
­­Gender Space Architecture. Edited by Jane Rendell, Barbara Penner and Iain Borden
Sexuality and Space. Edited by Beatriz Colomina
Stud: Architectures of Masculinity. Edited by Joel Sanders
Can Designers Improve Life in Non-Formal Cities? Harvard Design Magazine.
Links:
http://architectureforhumanity.org/
http://openarchitecturenetwork.org/
http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2010/smallscalebigchange/